Quiet tarps, tents, outdoor gear

This last weekend I got out into the dirt for a couple days. While trying to blend in to the environment I felt stymied by the noisy synthetic material that made up my tarp, tent, clothing, etc.

Is there some stealthy stuff being made that an ordinary person can hope to afford and is somewhat comparable in performance and weight to the space-age wonder synthetics?

Thanks.

I know there is hunting camo clothing available with quieter material - kind of fleece-like stuff.

Non synthetic kit will be much heavier but can perform as well or exceed synthetic materials.

For a quiet non synthetic tent there is the Force Ten Classic STD Mk3 4 Season 2 man tent - Although heavy can be a very comfortable tent being very breathable. I remember these tents from about 25 years ago and they were excellent, giving a very quiet and peaceful nights sleep, but they are in reality just to heavy to carry if carried individually.

http://www.vango.co.uk/products/f10tentsInfo.aspx?productid=12&modelid=16

For quiet clothing, cotton Ventile is very quiet compared to synthetic materials. But there are some reasonably quiet Goretex fabrics made called Goretex Saturn. I have a Berghaus Trek Jacket which is almost as quiet as Ventile.

Tatonka make a range of quieter polycotton Tarps.

Who or what are you trying to sneak up on?

Unless it is really loud, loud enough to distract or mask the surrounding noise level, I wouldn't worry about it. The woods aren't all that quiet. The idea you should make no noise is simply false.

Even sneaking up on people in a military situation it is more about the kind of noise than the perceived loudness. The slight tinkling of a keychain can alert every deer and human within a hundred yards.

Breaking glass is automatically associated with alarm for humans. Screaming fire is not as effective in raising alarm as breaking glass.

Walking through dried leaves may sound louder and more obvious but the sound blends with the other sounds in the woods. A person even ten yards away may very well not hear it simply because it blends into the background. And ten yards is usually too close. On the other hand a snapping twig is a sound universally associated with something heavy enough to snap it.

Two aspects: when I move around in a tent, sleeping bag, or just through brush, (1) my synthetic stuff is very loud in my ears and prevents me from being able to listen as I wish, and (2) trying to closely observe wildlife, etc. I do not like my noise to intrude on the environment.

You can always try canvas. It will still snap in the wind, but it won't crinkle the way sythetics will. But it will also be heavier and less weather proof.

Again, not the lightest or the cheapest, but it should perform well.

Ventile Poncho

Only US maker of ventile clothing found so far: Orvis. Shirt $225; pants $279; and jacket $695. Ouch!

Look at the hunting clothing from Cabelas. That should help mask your sight, sound, and scent without being outragiously expensive. Not cheap, but not outragious.
No idea on the tent though, but that shouldn't be as big of a problem. Tents don't often snap in the wind, at least in my experience. The loose ends are usually tied down.

It is usually the weave or knit rather than the material that determines noisyness.

A flannel shirt or T shirt is quieter than a canvas shirt.

A fleece jacket is quieter than a woven ski parka.

Nylon soft shells are quieter than Nylon hard shells, etc.

I like knits and flannels for clothing for quietness, but for tents, shells and
sleeping bags I use the hard finish wovens due to weight.

Let me add that in a survival situation you may wish to remain unobserved whether you are holed up or moving. Inherently quiet clothing and gear, as well as camoflague and good woodcraft, would seem to be a good idea.

I was watching a deer move along here and there from my tarp- wrapped sleeping bag, I was also wearing my jacket because I was cold. When the deer wandered out of my window of vision I tried to roll over to be able to follow - instant scrape and crinkle that sent the deer bounding away. I spent an eye- and ear-opening day noticing how loud my gear was as I hiked and did camp chores.

OTOH, in most survival situations you might want to be as observable as possible.

I'm thinking the ability to choose whether you are highly observable, or not, is the way to go. The signaling gear we carry, including fire-making gear, mirrors, etcetera, should be designed / selected appropriately.

I was going to mention Cabela's as well, I got their rifle/bow pack as my all around, the material is water resistant, snag resistant, and quiet.

And I know they make a bunch of clothing out of similar materials

Ninja rolls into discussion.
I went on a Audoban Society walk yesterday.
I kept thinking of an old anecdote about Walt Disney. Whenever he visited the studios, people would whisper 'Man in the forest' to alert fellow employees of his presence.
I was dressed in vintage tweeds( it does get cold here)and one wag asked if I was fond of J.R.R. Tolkien? I replied I was a C.S. Lewis man myself and couldn't wait for the new movie's premier.
The group looked like a Rambo convention with a few Power Rangers and one Buckskinner thrown in, all with 75 lb daypacks.
In between sneezing from 3 distinct colognes, I observed HOW CLEAN the clothing was and how those brighteners would flare up in the superior vision of many wild animals.
I was dawdling as usual, ignoring the march or die regimen of our Rosie O'Donnellesq group leader.But hey, I had my PSK and a wrapped fruitcake and full bottle of Perier) I was bent over looking at a native plant I haven't seen in years when there were shrieks and the sound of crashing.
5 deer came bounding down.
They paused right next to me, making like an ENT ( I did read LOTR)with my hand frozen on my custom survival hiking staff
( it has a wood spirit's beard smiling face carved on the top for good mojo.)Then they walked cautiously on, close enough I could have touched every one.
I added to my lifetime bird talley; a few dozen more LGBs( binomial nomenclature little,grey birdies.)
You want quiet? wool,with the BAAAA carded out.

The attractions of fruitcake are well documented.

And wool does stay warm, though it gets a bit heavy, after lengthy heavy rain or thick fog.

I tend to wear cotton in the warmest weather, then wool-cotton or wool-poly blends in the shoulder seasons. But my jackets, tents, and tarps are all synthetic all the time - that's what I would like to look at changing.

I am actually looking at traditionally tanned buckskin for clothing. The smoke cure supposedly acts to make the material highly water resistant, it remains breathable, super quiet, etc. Unlike chemically tanned buckskin, traditionally dressed and smoked bucksin supposedly shrugs off the occasional soaking and returns to its original state. But making it is labor-intensive and buying it is expensive, then there's the tailoring. It does have a scent of its own when new.

So, any other candidates?

Thanks.

Indeed, the first rule of not being seen is not to stand up as described in the HM Government Public Service Films Number 42 - How not to been seen.

I have seen some clothing meant for turkey hunting that was quite soft, quiet, and reputedly waterproof, etcetera, but have never seen that material made up into tarps, tents, sleeping bags, etcetera.

Supplex nylon is a little quieter and has a more cotton-like feel than the typical outdoor nylon fabrics.

Some polyester fabric is quiet, but not very durable.

Tighter clothing made for runners and cross-country skiers might be worth investigating.

As already mentioned, fleece and wool are very quiet.

You could sew patches of quiet material such as leather onto areas of clothing which often make rubbing noise.

This may cause more questions than answers, but here goes. . .

I own a light weight zip front hooded jacket similar to THIS ONE from Harley Davidson.

It is made of a very short "nap or pile" polyester fleece and has a laminated backing. It is both wind and water proof as I have repeatedly tested both normally around town and on my motorcycle. It seems to breath well enough. I don't know for sure but I think it is GoreTex WindStopper.

Amazingly QUIET, so if one could find other items from this cloth it should work.

It has one major downside. If you come within 50 yards of an animal that is shedding, ALL of the loose hair will be stuck to the garment. YMMV

Additional thought: clothing, tarps, and tents that were quiet in the rain would be a nice alternative.

The sound of rain on a hood, tarp roof, or tent can be nice but gets old after a while and it radically reduces your abiity to hear other things - sort of like an auditory version of looking into a light or fire reducing your night vision. It would be nice to have a choice of gear that eliminated the sharp, noisy pitter-patter for a quieter outdoor experience where you can hear the natural sounds around you - including that of rain hitting the landscape and wildlife adjusting to rain, etc..

I wonder how far off you can hear the sound of rain hitting a synthetic jacket, tarp, or tent? I'll bet it is a suprising distance. I can think of several situations where it would be nice to have the option to avoid announcing your presence throughout the neighborhood.

Something you can do to minimize that noise if your static, is pitch your tent under tree cover. You can also run a line of cord over your tent and place some laying boughs over them, though its a bit excessive. I will certainly notice less noise in dead fall shelters than my rainfly'd tent though its not nearly as comfortable.

I suppose depending on how much auditory level you need you can switch out your rain shells hood for a gortex, windstopper type of watch cap.

The fact is regardless if its falling on you or just falling, the sound of rain is going to create a lot of environmental noise. Even if you are in a dead fall with watch cap, the rain falling on everything else will mute sound travel.

Yep. And if you are one of the quiet ones it is a great time to view wildlife, either as they move by or as you are able to approach them.